The Gypsy and The Horseman
by HollandWrights
Summary: Sakura, a woman filled with wanting, runs into Gaara who happens to be wanting her. As she seduces him, and he enraptures her, they both come out of it wondering who has fooled whom...


**PLEASE READ:** Hello all who are reading this story! I love each and every one of you for your support and interest! :) Now a few things before we get started...

1. I assure you no matter how this fic starts off, or seems like it may lead in a different direction later on in the story, this _IS MOST CERTAINLY_ a Gaara/Sakura romance fic! So please do not be alarmed and immediately start spamming me with hate mail (dodges a rotten tomato...barely) if it seems otherwise.

2. This is rated M/ mature for a very good reason! There will be bad language, sex, sexual innuendoes, violence, (possibly violent sex), and is just downright completely inappropriate for the underaged/immature eyes. So please, no matter what your age, if you _aren't _mature enough then do not continue to read this story.

3. Sorry for the rant, I just don't want a million mothers e-mailing me again. This _has_ happened before! And i quote "...and how could youput something like this on the internet! This is absolute garbage! Now because of you my 14 year old son is going to start looking at porn!" (courtesy of some lady named Terri) *coughs* Ughm...riiight.

4. Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or its affiliated characters. I only own this plot.

Ok thanks for reading all that...If you actually did. I hope you enjoy the story, and please leave any comments, question, or concerns you may have :) Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 1:

Sakura rolled over onto her side and stretched her long lean muscles. She felt the sickness in her stomach silence itself just like it did every other time she did this. Her monster had been silenced, and she was content to feel the pleasure of numbness take over. She rolled off of the solid mattress and her feet landed silently on the cold hardwood floor. It was pitch black in the semi- unfamiliar room and she was having trouble remembering were her panties had been tossed.

As she sat there, thinking were they could be, she felt a warm, hard body press itself against her naked back. She felt his kisses rain down on her shoulder, and she leaned back into his lips. He wrapped his strong arm around her side and pulled her back down on the bed, so she was leaning back onto his lap and looking up at him. "Looking for these?" He dangled the small scrap of lacy black material between his fingers in front of her face and she snatched them up.

"Thanks, I couldn't remember were you had thrown them in your hurry to get them off of me..." She smiled smugly at him as she hopped up off the bed and put on her underwear. She walked into the adjacent bathroom and turned the light on, she was sure she had left her jeans in there.

He spoke up a bit louder so she could hear him from the bathroom "Well maybe next time you shouldn't wear any at all..." She stepped back into the bedroom- her jeans _and _blouse securely on. She looked at him as he laid back on the bed and he lit a cigarette. She looked at him with a predatory glint in her eye and she stalked over to him.

She took his cigarette out of his hand and leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Yes well if I do that then _what_ will I use to tie your hands to the bed post with?" She breathed heavily onto his ear and brushed her lips against his neck. He grabbed her wrist and she knew she had gotten him excited again. She brought her lips back up to nibble on the flesh just below his ear. He used his other hand to grip onto the side of her hip. Oh ya, he wanted it again. _Bad. _ She chuckled, kissing him on the corner of the mouth and then handing his cigarette back in to him.

"I have to go now" She said in a husky voice. She looked at the clock on the bedside table. It was 1:30 in the morning and she had to wake up for work in 5 hours. He looked disappointed and somehow that made her feel good. It made her feel powerful.

"Alright, I'll walk you out then" he said in a bored tone trying not to sound as upset as he was that she had to leave.

"Thats alright" she said "I can walk myself out..." Sakura got up and walked across the bedroom to the door. She turned around and looked at the incredibly appetizing man laying fully naked in his bed. If she wanted, she could go back right then and he would pleasure her throughout the rest of the night- no questions asked. But she couldn't do that... she always liked to leave them wanting more. And she really did have to go.

"Goodnight Shikamaru." She said with a wink and her sexiest voice as she spun around and walked out of his bedroom. She moved quickly through his dark house and straight to the front door were she grabbed her boots, threw them on, and left.

* * *

As Sakura walked down the empty streets on her way home, she felt free. The dark of the night always did things to her. It flipped a switch in her brain that let her inner self run rampant and free. And it felt extremely good to let her wild urges run with reckless abandon. At night she felt like an intensified version of her most favorite self that had to be locked away in the daylight when she was banned from selfish indulgences.

Having wild and passionate sex with gorgeous men was one of the indulgences that she had come to favor. She was not a slut, at least she didn't consider herself to be, but she had had her fair share of men. And she reveled in each one of them. She didn't like to mess around with relationships... when you get feelings involved- thats when things got complicated. But with each man came a slightly different experience, and she loved the silence that it brought to her inner pains.

All she liked to feel was euphoria, and freedom, and numb. And sex brought her all of those things. Without it she felt the constant thrum of loneliness and oppression that attached itself to her like a leach, never quite satisfied with everything it took from her.

When Sauske left, he took a part of her with him. It caused her a great unbearable pain. And after years and years of living with it, and trying to fight through it, she found a way to cover it up- to fill in the darkness inside of her. And it felt wonderful. If she could bottle her discovery and put it in pill form...well she would probably overdose. She giggled to herself as she approached her apartment complex "_I wouldn't mind overdosing on Shikamaru..."_

She and Shikamaru had been together a few times now. It had been completely unexpected on her end. Apparently he had been into her for awhile...it probably started around the same time all of the other guys began to fall for her- when she grew into herself and turned into a seductress.

He had sat down next to her at a a bar and bought a drink. "You look like you just got back from a rough mission..." She smirked at him and took down her shot. "Thats because I did." They sat there just understanding each other in silence for a few minutes, and then he bought her a drink. He asked if she wanted to talk about it. She said she couldn't...It was classified. He nodded and they just sat there for about two hours drinking together and making small talk. She let her hands linger longer then she needed to on his thigh, and he leaned in closer than he needed to talk.

Later they found themselves walking down an empty street, and then through an empty alley. They walked closely, and they knew what was coming. Shikamaru had pressed his tall muscular form against her, pushing her up against the wall in the dark. She reached up to touch his face and brush her lips against his. After that simple kiss, it was all deep and intensified passion. There was no peace, there was no break. There was no going back. There mouths fought for dominance in a heated dance, and they grabbed at each others bodies, need and want pouring out of them like an overflowing cup.

Sakura had grabbed the back of his ponytail making him pull back a little so she could speak "Your place. Now." He picked her up and in one swift motion jumped up to the roof of the building they were next to. Her ran across the roof tops with fervor. It only took a few moments. And then they were against his door, kissing again and tugging at clothes. He opened the door to his house and the fell through the opening into his living room couch. And his kitchen table. And his bed. And his floor. They had sex again and again that night. They didn't stop till morning. And each time was incredible.

Sakura thought for how lazy Shikamaru was most of the time, he might have been the lazy type in the bedroom. That however was not the case. He was an extremely attentive lover, and made sure that nothing was left unsatisfied. In return, Sakura made sure that the only thing he was left in wanting of, was her return to his bed.

Sakura came upon her apartment building and looked up, bringing her out of her memories. She backed up a little, and ran straight towards the building, jumping up and landing on the fire escape outside of her bedroom window perfectly- without making a noise.

She opened her window and climbed into her bedroom. Deciding she was to tired to do anything but sleep for now, she kicked off her boots, stripped off her clothes and fell right into her comfortable bed.

* * *

When Sakura's alarm went off the following morning she was in a dark and dreamless sleep. She hated waking up when she was actually sleeping well since it didn't happen to often. With a rough grumble she forced herself to get up out of bed and turn her alarm off. She walked into her bathroom and turned on the shower.

While waiting for the water to heat up she looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was even and beautiful. She had pale skin and big green eyes. She had let her pale pink tresses grow back out very long again and she let it remain a little curly as it was naturally. She glanced down to her neck and pinched her eyebrows together. She had two dark purple hickeys, one higher up on her neck and one very large one just above her collar bone. She examined further down her body and saw that she also had small splotchy hickeys covering the area over her nipples.

She brought her hands up to her neck and allowed her chakra to flow through her glowing fingertips willing the blood vessels there to relax, making the bruises disappear. She took care of the ones on her breasts to. She couldn't very well run around with sex marks covering her body. People would start to intrude on her personal life with questions and conclusions. Sakura didn't want anyone to burrow themselves under the mask of perfection she had painted around herself. No one was allowed to see behind it. And if she wanted to keep it that way then she had to keep up appearances.

She stepped into the steamy shower, finished with her work, and continued to get ready for the day. She washed off all of last nights activities and got dressed in black spandex shorts and a tight long-sleeved red scoop neck shirt. It was starting to get chilly out with the weather changing Konoha was transitioning into the colder part of fall. She put on her black knee high boots and tied her weapons belt and her protective headband around her waist. She then braided her long hair to the side and let it drape over her right shoulder.

Looking in the mirror and being satisfied with her reflection, she went to her kitchen and made breakfast- an apple and coffee. Sakura loved coffee. On days were she worked in the city and didn't have missions, she had it at least a few times a day. While she sat there she allowed herself enough time to meditate a little and get in the right mindset for the rest of the day.

After she felt like enough time had passed she left her apartment and headed for the Hokage Tower.

* * *

When Sakura was not on missions she was working at the Konoha Hospital as one of their top doctors. And in being one of the head doctors, Sakura occasionally had to sign off on piled up paperwork in reference to and for the hospital. In case you didn't know, the aforementioned stack of papers to be signed that day was about three feet high.

So with a heavy heart, she plastered on her most convincing and beautifully painted mask of serenity and shoved open the double doors to the Hokages office.

There were _a lot _of ninja in there today. All running around at top speeds, taking missions, dropping of paperwork, picking up checks. Doing a number of different things really. Especially getting ready for the chunin exams...they were happening again in Konoha at the end of the week.

Sakura stealthily walked through the large room in the direction of Tsunade's private office when she noticed she was not at the head of the table in the center of the room like she normally was.

"Ah, Sakura-san?" Sakura turned around to see Shizune waving at her and she smiled brightly at her. With that smile Shizune knew that every man in the room had immediately turned his attention to Sakura.

"Hello Shizune. Were is Tsunade -sama?" Shizune reached out to grab her arm and started walking her across the room to a seat next to the Hokages at her usual table. "Oh well she has a bit of a headache this morning..." Shizune trailed off and Sakura knew she meant she had a hangover.

"She will be here momentarily but until then she asks that you sit hear at this desk next to hers and start signing those documents off." Sakura looked at her like she had two heads.

"Wait Shizune, why does she want me to do the paperwork here?" It made no sense for her to be doing paperwork in the middle of all of this commotion, and she would only be taking up space.

"Oh she really needs to speak with you when she comes in." Shizune said as encouragingly as she could.

Sakura sighed and sat down at the desk "Well alright, if it can't be helped..." Shizune smiled in relief and walked over to a spot at the table to hand out missions to the ninja who had been waiting for her to finish her conversation.

Even though there was a lot of distractions Sakura was determined to get all of her work out of the way as quickly as possible. With that in mind she picked up her pen and ink and started to dig into the mountains of paper in front of her.

What she didn't realize though was that she was more the distraction then anything else. She didn't even realize that every single male in the place had their eyes on her. Even if she wasn't in the front center of the room she couldn't be missed. And in those groups of eyes staring at her and lusting after her beauty was a man she had left only hours ago in his bed.

As soon as Shikamaru walked in to the room he noticed her, straight ahead, sitting next to the Hokage's empty seat, signing and stamping furiously away at her papers. He was captivated by the way she pursed her full and luscious lips together as she was concentrating, and the way her breasts rose up and down as she breathed. You could see the outline of them perfectly in the top she was wearing.

He wanted to walk up and talk to her, but he wasn't sure that would be a good idea. His and Sakura's sleeping together may be assumed, especially with those hickeys he had kindly placed on her neck last night. He looked at her neck from across the room, and he could not see them. He frowned a little. They were there last night. He saw them...she must have healed them away.

Being smart he knew that was the best idea, but being a man he was somehow annoyed with the fact that she was no longer covered by his mark. Well this way he wouldn't have any trouble going up and talking to her. He waited though until he got to the front of the line (closer to her) and handed in his mission report first.

Sakura could feel her hand seize and stopped her signing to massage it out. When she looked up from her paperwork she saw Shikamaru to the front left of her a few tables down handing in some reports.

He looked up at her and she smiled her normal I-will-dazzle-you-now smile. He wanted her so badly. He walked over to wear she was sitting and looked down at her "Hey Sakura, how are you today?" He asked one eyebrow raised. She knew he was suggesting at how she was holding up after their long, rough romp between the sheets last night.

She looked up and studied him. He had grown up into quite a man. He was tall and lean muscled. And he looked nearly identical to his father in the face, even with the facial hair. The only difference was the scars.

She responded just as coyly "Well I actually didn't get to bed until late- You know, work keeping me out late- so I'm a little tired." She smiled again at him, pretending she wasn't insinuating anything when really... "What about you Shikamaru, do you ever have that problem were you get _tied_ up somewhere and loose track of time?" He looked at her and his eyes widened at her statement, remembering particularly eventful highlights from the night before.

"Well I'm sure that happens to everyone from time to time..." he trailed off hoping she would play along.

"Oh?" She said feigning surprise "And how often does it happen with you?" He was about to respond when out of nowhere came the loud voice of the Hokage bursting into the room.

"...No I will not sign off on that are you crazy?" She yelled at a small older man who was trailing her "Now get those papers out of my face!" She walked straight into her private office and slammed the door in the small man's face, only to open it back up and stick her head out as she yelled for Sakura. "Sakura get in here!" She slammed the door again. The small man looked so defeated.

Sakura stood up from her chair and looked up at Shikamaru again. "Well I guess I'll see you around later." She gathered the stack of papers she had already signed and walked away into the Hokage's office.

Shikamaru couldn't help but feel the pang in his loins of being turned on, and he knew he was going to have to go "take care of business" as soon as possible. That woman was simply to dangerous for any sane man to be around. He walked out of the busy office and off to the training grounds. He needed to cool off.

* * *

When Sakura walked into her shisou's office she felt the tension rolling off of her in waves. "Good morning shisou" she said as softly as she could, trying not to aggravate her hang over. Tsunade looked up at her, massaging her temples and sighed heavily. "Morning." (Another sigh) "Ok Sakura have a seat." (She pauses dramatically) "We have a lot to go over for this upcoming Friday"

"_Oh of course" _She thought to herself "_No wonder she's so stressed out...the Chunin Exams are being held here again..."_Then she paled "_Oh no. She's going to ask me to-"_

Her thoughts were cut off as Tsunade chimed in "Im going to need you to hand over your shifts for the rest of the week, and next week also- distribute them however you see fit but I'm going to need you." Sakura felt a pang of disappointment in her chest. She really loved her time working at the hospital and she didn't want to hand off her current patients to any other doctors. But she had to do what she had to do, and Tsunade needed her.

"Uhm, wait why do you need me for _this _whole week, _and_ next week? Don't you just want me to be a medic on call during the exams? Thats only three days..." Tsunade's eye twitched "Well if you would _listen_ to me! For kami's sake I'm not even finished explaining whats going on here!" Sakura rolled her eyes at her mentors quick temper.

"Now what I was saying was that this year, the Chunin exams will be extended for an entire week. There are three times the number of participants this year and we will be holding a screening of them prior to the actual competition to weed out any dangerous impostors intending to cause trouble." Sakura nodded in concentration, this years exams were going to be long and elaborate. She could already picture Tsunade in freak-out mode.

"Sakura you are my most trusted confidant next to Shizune and I will need both of your cooperation and help in preparing certain things for this."

Sakura smiled brightly "Of course! Whatever you need. Uhm speaking of which...what do you need specifically?"

Tsunade leaned back in her chair and opened a folder "Well even though the Genin from different villages don't arrive for another four days, the _Kazekage _from Suna has requested that he and a few of his advisors are able to come early. Because of what happened during the last Chunin exam that was held here, they don't want any false accusations of suspicious activity circling around and causing a problem. Even though we are on good terms with them, his requesting to visit Konoha _before_ the exams will strengthen the bond between our villages. I'm sure though he also wants to make sure that all of the necessary precautions are being taken."

Sakura nodded through all of what Tsunade had said, taking it all in. So the Kazekage was coming early. She supposed that was a good thing based on Tsunades reaction...but still what did she need _her_ to do?

Tsunade saw the question still on her face. She sighed and continued "As Shizune will be busy helping me with other preparations for the exams, I need someone trustworthy to escort the Kazekage and his advisors around the city. Someone who is already familiar with them..." She looked at Sakura pointedly, Sakura looked back at her and Tsunade watched as realization hit her like a ton of bricks. "You want me to what?" She said with shock.

Tsunade looked into a folder and began flipping through pages and pretending to skim through the words. She didn't look directly at her. "Oh, you know. Pick them up at the gate, show them around the city, take them out for meals, show them to a nice hotel and make sure they are comfortable."

Sakura was horrified on the inside. _She wanted her to take care of the leader of their countries only ally, and make sure he had a good time? _She had no clue what she was going to do. How was she supposed to entertain someone like that? Oh god! How long was this going to be for? It couldn't be that long right?

"And how long will I be uhm- _escorting_- them?" Tsunade picked up a calendar and began to read off of it "Well lets see here, today is Monday and they arrive early Wednesday soooo... You'll start on Wednesday and Thursday and then on Friday- thats when participants start to arrive... We'll be busy with the other leaders who will arrive in meetings starting Saturday morning until late Sunday night- you will need to be there as well..."

Sakura could feel her mind in over drive. She would be needed to entertain these people for 3 whole days, and be there through the long meetings and paper signings that the leaders of all of the villages have to go through before the exams.

"And then throughout the week of the exams I will need you for other various things and depending on how well the Kazekage and his people like your company then you will continue to assist them in whatever way I see fit." There goes her social life. She pictured herself with big sad eyes waving to it as it flew away like a bat out of hell. She sighed inwardly but kept a firm smile on for Tsunade.

"Yes shisou I will take care of it." Tsunade looked relieved like a weight had been lifted off her. "Great" She handed her a schedule of some sorts. "Her are some rough guidelines you should follow while they are here and those in red are appointments that you need to make sure you get them to. Those are important." Sakura was then dismissed. She gathered her things and walked out of the office, through the flurry of ninja and people running around and getting prepared for the exams, and straight out of the Hokage Tower. She had to go assign her shifts away... And she needed to figure out what the hell she was supposed to do about being a freaking "escort". What the hell was she going to do?

* * *

Ok What do you guys think so far? Do you like all of the details and info on Sakura's personal life or do you think it takes away from what you actually want in the story? I personally hate it when writers skip through all of the details and things don't add up or make sense, just to get to the point, I like the background of a story. But this is about you guys here, so please let me know how you feel so I can adjust! :)


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